Captain katie leslie photo

aviation mistake in North Carolina, United States

Air Midwest Flight was adroit Beechcraft D on a unceremoniously scheduled passenger flight from Metropolis Douglas International Airport in City, North Carolina, to Greenville–Spartanburg Ecumenical Airport in Greer, South Carolina.

On the morning of Jan 8, , the Beechcraft stalled while departing Charlotte Douglas Worldwide Airport and crashed into public housing aircraft hangar, killing all 21 passengers and crew aboard take injuring one person on honourableness ground.

Accident

Flight information

Air Midwest Soaring (operating as a US Airways Express flight under a authorization agreement with US Airways) was a regularly scheduled passenger air voyage from Charlotte Douglas International Field near Charlotte, North Carolina, motivate Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina.

On January 8, , Flight was operated toddler a Beechcraft D (registration integer NYV^[2]).^{[1]:&#;1&#;[3]} The aircraft was originator delivered new to Air Midwest in , and had collected 15, flight hours at picture time of the crash.^[1]:&#;14&#;

Final tally of passenger nationalities
Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Bahamas	3	0	3
India	2	0	2
Canada	1	0	1
Portugal	1	0	1
United States	12	2	14
Total	19	2	21

Two crew members other 19 passengers were aboard illustriousness Beechcraft.

The two crew comrades and 12 passengers were American; the rest were from changing nationalities.^[4] The crew consisted revenue Captain Catherine "Katie" Leslie (age 25) and First Officer Jonathan Gibbs (age 27). Leslie was the youngest captain flying funding the airline at that frustrate, and had accrued 1, midday total company flying time, inclusive of 1, hours as the pilot-in-command of a Beechcraft D.

Chemist had hours of flying spell in Beechcraft D aircraft. Both pilots were based in Charlotte.^{[1]:&#;9–10&#;[4][5][6]}

Departure and crash

On the morning embodiment January 8, , ramp agents loaded 23 checked bags deck out Flight , including two notably heavy bags.^[1]:&#;1&#; The flight populace completed their preflight checklists, containing center of gravity (CG) checks.^[1]:&#;2&#;

Flight left the gate about Orient Standard Time.

At , begin controllers cleared Flight to to runway 18R for alteration. At , the tower someone cleared Flight for takeoff, have a word with the pilots applied takeoff contour and began their takeoff roll.^[1]:&#;2&#;

Immediately after becoming airborne, Flight 's nose began to rapidly toss up.

By the time exodus reached an altitude of 90 feet (27&#;m) above ground uniform, the plane's nose had harsh up 20°. Despite both pilots trying forcefully to push nobleness nose down, the plane enlarged to pitch nose-up, reaching practised maximum of 54° of steepness. The aircraft's stall-warning horn measured, and the pilots declared brush up emergency to air traffic controllers.

After climbing to an height of 1, feet (&#;m), significance plane stalled, abruptly pitching disc into an uncontrollable descent.^[1]:&#;3&#; Get the wrong impression about 35 seconds after taking dispose of, Flight crashed into an plane maintenance hangar and burst pierce flames.^{[1]:&#;4,&#;8&#;} The 19 passengers playing field both pilots were killed.

Clean US Airways mechanic on nobleness ground was treated for breath inhalation. No one else back issue the ground was hurt.^[1]:&#;8&#;

Cause revenue the crash

The investigators determined rectitude crash to have been description result of the combination rob two separate issues.

After gist, the plane climbed steeply gorilla a result of higher puzzle calculated weight on the flat surface that generated an incorrect CG readout.^[7] Though both pilots reserved forward on the control editorial, the plane did not react to their input, which spaced out to the stalling of ethics aircraft.

The aircraft's most brandnew service involved adjusting the upraise control cable, and was unmitigated two nights before the thunder by Vertex Aerospace^[8] at organized repair facility located at Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Colony. The investigation indicated the repairman who worked on the heave cables had never worked submit this type of aircraft, with the addition of turnbuckles controlling tension on probity cables to the elevators difficult been set incorrectly, resulting the same insufficient elevator travel, leading call by the pilots not having summary pitch control.

Although normally pure postadjustment control test would suitably conducted to ensure that interpretation maintenance had been carried waste correctly, and that the outside was operating properly, the excuse supervisor who was instructing honourableness mechanic decided to skip that step. The instructing maintenance overseer was also the quality coolness inspector on the test, gorilla the primary inspector was fond of that evening.^[1]:&#;11&#; The National Business Safety Board (NTSB) noted guarantee the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was aware of "serious deficiencies" in the training procedures imitation the facility, but had presentation nothing to correct them.^[9]

Although character pilots had totaled up rendering ostensible take-off weight of character aircraft before the flight innermost determined it to be inside limits, the plane was truly overloaded and out of put out due to the use perfect example FAA-approved (but actually incorrect) gold brick weight estimates.

When checked, description NTSB found that the factual weight of an average slacker was more than 20 pounds (9&#;kg) greater than estimated. Care checking the actual weight ransack baggage retrieved from the rumble site and passengers (based broadcast information from next-of-kin and dignity medical examiner), the aircraft was found to be actually lb (&#;kg) above its maximum approved take-off weight, with its heart of gravity 5% to righteousness rear of the allowable sayso.

Neither problem alone would possess caused the loss of stifle, which explains why it confidential previously been flown without proceeding and had safely departed City, West Virginia.^[1]:&#;&#;

Aftermath

The NTSB report charade 21 safety recommendations.

As well-ordered result of the weight issues discovered, the FAA planned squalid investigate and potentially revise accounted weight values, which had whimper been done since Air Midwest used an average weight deduction lb (&#;kg) per passenger tail end the accident, but the NTSB suggests that airlines use factual weights instead of average.

Transfer 70% of small air carriers still use average.^[10] Air Midwest publicly apologized for the bash after the family of make sure of crash victim pressured the airway to do so.^[8][11][12] Air Midwest ceased operations in A monument for the victims is aeon outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dramatization

The crash was featured send down season five of the Canadian-made, internationally distributed documentary series Mayday, in an episode titled "Dead Weight".^[10]

Images

• US Airways hangar milk Charlotte Douglas International Airport significance viewed from Terminal in

• US Airways hangar at Metropolis Douglas International Airport viewed escaping Runway 18R.

• Detail view methodical crash location at northwest carrefour of US Airways hangar crash into Charlotte Douglas International Airport thought from Runway 5.

Notes

See also

References

&#;This piece incorporates public domain material diverge websites or documents of high-mindedness National Transportation Safety Board.

External links